Ignorance, as the cliché goes, is bliss. Modern society is now beginning to see—sometimes painfully— that the most critical challenges we face are also the ones which are most interconnected or systemic in nature. A blissful ignorance of Earth’s ecology allowed humanity to enjoy decades of unprecedented development without much thought about its longterm consequences. Only recently have the negative impacts of this development been measured and broadly understood by science, yet lagging and conflicted decision-making has inhibited a serious and concerted response. By expanding our understanding of systemic problems, we can better appreciate the principles that govern them and the risks they pose to society.